# Water pump leak

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/water-pump-leak/20387>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** pump\
**Created:** [October 5, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/water-pump-leak/20387 "2008-10-05T17:52:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Al\_Trip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/34f0e0/32.png) [@Al\_Trip](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Al_Trip)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/water-pump-leak/20387/1 "2008-10-05T17:52:10Z")

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I have a leak from my water pump on my 87 Toyota 2 litre Hiace van which is over 300,000kms… There is also some visible rust floating around in the radiator and a light coating of rust on the plastic coolant reservoir. I am going to replace the pump myself. What other cooling system maintainence should I do? I bought some generic cooling system flush, but not sure I should use it. Al; suggestions are appreciated.

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**Author:** ![Beadsandbeads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c57346/32.png) [@Beadsandbeads](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Beadsandbeads)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/water-pump-leak/20387/2 "2008-10-05T18:19:35Z")

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Just the proper coolant. I don’t think that the flush is such a good idea if you don’t have other problems? Has the coolant been replaced faithfully?

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**Author:** ![Al\_Trip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/34f0e0/32.png) [@Al\_Trip](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Al_Trip)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/water-pump-leak/20387/3 "2008-10-05T18:25:23Z")

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No, I haven’t paid much attention to the coolant over the past six years that I have owned the van.

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**Author:** ![circuitsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/circuitsmith/32/40376_2.png) [@circuitsmith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/circuitsmith)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/water-pump-leak/20387/4 "2008-10-05T21:51:47Z")

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I’d inspect the radiator tubes (that you can see through the top) for corrosion and back flush it to get any flakes of rust out that might be starting to clog it. I’d also back flush the heater core to get the junk out of it too. I would replace the thermostat. I’d replace the radiator hoses and clamps if they are more than 10 years old. If you use regular green antifreeze you should drain and refill the radiator with a 50/50 mix every 2 years. I like to change the thermostat every 4 years on my '88 Accord.